THE ROYAL PROGRESS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CVIII, Issue 12999, 15 December 1902, Page 4

THE ROYAL PROGRESS.

'' INCIDENTS OF THE DAY. ■ [From Our ♦Correspondent.] . LONDON, Oct. 31. ■Th6 King’s progiless last Saturday was ■punctuated by Civic welcomes, congratulatng the King on his recovery, on the restor;tion of peace, andj wishing him and his Donsort a long and happy reign. The fii*t if- thcso took plftoti at the London County Council stand in Trafalgar Square, opposite the National Gallery. The address from the London-County Council referred to the royal regard for the welfare of the poorer inhabitants of London and the certainty of their- Majesties’ approbation of the efforts of the London County Council to keep .London worthy of the important position it held in the Empire. ThKing, in his reply, which he read with ciear, ringing tones, said that no questions appealed more strongly to his interest and sympathy than regarding directly the Welfare of the poorctr classes, especially m the great cities. In the. now widened Strand, between thb churches of St Mary-le-Strand and St Clement Danes, a. second halt was made to receive addresses from the City of Westminster and from seventeen Metropolitan Boroughs north .of the Thames. The Westminister address recalled the association of,-Westminster with the doings and destinies of the Sovereigns and its ’ pre-eminent destination of being the birthplace and 'home of the King, and the scene of the Coronation. The Mayor of / Islington harmed the address to the King, on., behalf of the group of Metropolitan Mayors, in scarlet and blue and fur and gold; -backed by their bewigged clerks. , This address expressed its “ appreciation of yonr Royal Bounty to the poorer of our fellow-citizens, a further evidence, if such were .needed, of'the interest you take in the welfare of inch of your* subjects as suffer from l want or distress.” : Tire King made short- amd tactful replies, and through the mayors “’acknowledged the welcome greetings of this vast concourse of i Londoners and visitors to our capital.” At ; Temple Bar the Lord Mayor, bareheaded, ’ surrendered the pearl sward to‘the King, and having received it back, accomplished in safety the difficult feat of mountingjiip black charger. At the Guildhall the King and’Queen arrived /at it quarter past one, and took their departure just before 2.30 pirn. The Vestry Hall, in the Borough Betid, was the centre of interest on the south side of the water, for here, at eight minutes to three, under tin; purple a.nd gold canopy, and vis a vis with an array of bouquet bearing mayoresses on a prims on dais, the Mayor of Soutlnwark presented on behalf of the South Metropolitan boroughs a long address referring to the extent of the Empire, Quesn Alexandra’s arrival in, England, the establishment of provincial municipalities shortly before Queen Victoria’s accession, th* deep personal interest of the King and Queen .in the provision of. better housing and'healthier surroundings for their subjects and the hope that the southern borough council)! might be instrumental in ameliorating the conditions under which a large number of those subjects lived. 4 The King, in. his- reply, expressed his “ satisfaction to know that the many social problems which present themselves to those who are charged with the municipal government of the metropolis are receiving that attention which their importance demahds, and you havc-our hearty sympathy in all your efforts to ameliorate i the conditions under which large numbers of jour people are compelled to live.” Just as the Royal carriage was starting a lusty lunged citizen in the crowd, with ~ more loyalty than reverence, called! for “ Three cheers for Edward,” and'mmid rousing applause the King and Queen proceeded, ho other stop being made ufatil they reached Buckingham Palace, three hours and forty minutes after they had set out. The mere mechanical arrangements for Saturday’s procession were excellent. The route was sufficiently lined, but not so I thickly as to prevent the crowd from getjting a good view-; the troops were brought Jinto position at exactly the right time, and . the people were allowed to filter from the ■ oide streets on to the line of route, so that ;there, was a continuous thick chain all ! round the circle and not, as at Coronation time, a thin sprinkling of people in the | streets traversed by the King and tremen- - idous banks with cruel pressure at the great lopeh spaces, Waterloo Place and Trafalgar | Square; • Ludgate Circus, the scene of the shocking accident on the return of the C.l.V.’s, was only lined, not banked up. , The crowd, far larger than any of ustanticipated, probably because so many resolved to try- a pavement “ stand,” was little inclined to “ maffick,” and kept itself in admirable order. Monday showed no substantial! increase over the normal number of Arunks, and the casualties were almost entirely confined to “faints.” But the authorities responsible for the procession were entirely lacking in imagination and in any sense of the picturesque and the patriotic) save in one respect—their choice of the day. Oct. 25 is St Crispin’s Day, the anniversary of Agincourt, and of the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. Wo want more of the dramatic inspiration in our providers of pageants. The enthusiasm of the people for the Balaclava veterans, for the crew of the Terrible as they marched to their stand in Trafalgar Square, for “Bobs” and for the King showed that they arc quite ready to respond to any demonstration that would evoke their patriotism. A detachment of ;he modem representatives of the regiments • ihat took part in the Balaclava charge riding in the procession, halting in front of -.he veterans, and paying them a reverential salute, would b*S3 aroused not only thunders of cheers, bat called forth tears ' if pridaand joy in many eyes. So the inhesion of the crew of the Terrible in the procession and the rendering of brief homage at Nelson’s statue by them would have served to keep alive in the people’s minds the heroic deeds of our Navy. And even the smallest detachments of regiments that distinguished themselves in the war marching along in their war stained 1 khaki would) have done something, to remove the reproach that we bawl at the Boer generals and let Tommy come home ungreeted. The people would willingly give _ Tommy rapturous welcome, but the War Office wont give them the chance. The military part of Saturday’s pageant might have been full of stirring significance, but it was ■ meaningless, and so let pass in silence by the populace, who realise that war is no longer made in gleaming helms and cuirasses or in bristling bearskins and scarlet ' tunics. THE BOEB GENERALS. The Boer Generals, by the way, tophatted and frockcoated, were spectators of the procession from the front row of the - London County Council stand, where they were the guests of the Chairman, Sir John ' M’Dougall. “They were,” says a journalist stationed at this point, “objects of a good deal of attention throughout the morning, both from the crowd in tho street and the occupants of the Council seats, many of * whom sought an introduction to the visitors. Botha conversed with some animation with N Lady M’Dougall; De Wet and De la Key, though evidently following the proceedings with intense interest, only now and then interchanged brief and apparently monosyllabic remarks, which grew more frequent when the cavalry and guns of the escort appeared. The Generals seemed gratified by the demonstrations of respect paid to them by the police and by some of the spectators as they passed through Trafalgar Square, Botha and De la Key bo-wing ceremoniously,and De Wet acknowledging the courtesies with a punctilious scmi-military salute. . . . Lord Roberts 1 was cheered as he rode behind the King's Engineers, De Wet Watching his ancient enemy with sternly impassive features, and a curious gleam in his keen •yea. Everybody rose as the strains of “ God Save the King ” were heard. The three Boer Generals seemed to hesitate, and a. whispered word passed between them. Then they, too, rose, and r-emained standing, uncovered, as the King's carriage was ihalted, and Botha joined for an instant in the general applause**

As th/Boer Generals returned on foot to Horrex’s Hotel, in the Strand, they were surrounded by a dense cheering crowd, and the posse of mounted police escorting them had some little difficulty in guiding them to their destination. EXCITING INCIDENTS. There were three exciting incidents connected with the Royal-progress. The first was a fire, which broke out in the d'oof of the Guildhall, a few minutes after the departure of the Royal guests. About halfpast three som o sparks dropped from the lantern in the centre of the hall, where the tables remained laid as the guests had left them, and where some of the guests were still lingering surveying the scene. The alarm was soon given, and the fire brigades concentrated on the spot. The onlookers were quickly cleared out of the hall, the valuable array of gold and silver plate hastily removed, and the Mace-bearer, Major Fox, who is also Chief Officer of the London Salvage Corps, climbed about in his scarlet uniform on the roof, directing the firemen, who, with hand-pumps and leather buckets, kept the fire under until the powerful steamers pumped a continuous stream of prater through the hose that had been dragged with difficulty up tho narrow staircase. After an hour, tho smouldering fire in the ventilating shaft to the gas lantern in tho roof was got tinder. The cause of the fire is supposed to be the over-heat-ing of the blue of the large sun-btirner. Although considerable repairs to the lantern will bo required, no damage was done to the hall or its contents. It is quite possible that the fire was smouldering , during the great banquet, and if so, it was lucky indeed that the splendid feast was nob marred. On iSaturday morning a rumour went round of the fortunate fnistation of an Anarchist plot to blow up one of the stands with a bomb. The Anarchist, however, turned out to be an unbeneficed- clergyman, one George .Martin, well intention but fanatical, and his bomb—a pound package of gunpowder. Martin, who is thirty-eight, and who conducts a mission in the borough market and works as a porter, and gives away his wages in charity, has vehement views on the unrighteousness of erecting stands on consecrated ground. On June 27 he was bound over to further answer a charge of threatenin; to destroy the Coronation stand outside St Saviour's Church, Southwark, for then, in addition to appealing to the porters of the market to help him pull tho stand down, he endeavoured to interview the King at Buckingham Palace. Shortly after 9 a.m. last Saturday ho called at the house of a farrier and asked the best way of laying a train of powder to blow up tho stand. The farrier advised him to lay a train 18fb long, gave him a box of -matches, and then put the police on his track. When the constable stopped him, Martin said quite straightforwardly, “I am going to try and get in at the back of the churchyard to blow up the stands."' At that time, there would bo no 1 - spectators on them, and in all probability' he would only have blown up himself. He was remanded in custody for a week. Another man who has given the detectives some little trouble is Henry Faultier, a labourer at Woolwich, who made a vain attempt on Saturday to present a petition to the King. Faulder, who gets a guinea a week, appealed to Mr Brodrick for an increase of three shillings a week. Tho application was refused. Then a petition was sent to the King, hut an official reply came back that “his Majesty took no Steps in the matter.” Faulder, however, was convinced that the’ King had not seen his letter,, and determined to throw a petition into the Royal carriage on Saturday. But four Scotland Yard sleuth-hounds (I believe that is the word) were ever on his trail, and at tho moment when near London Bridge, he was about to dash up to the carriage with a petition neatly tied with tricolour ribbon, restraining hands laid hold on him, and he was hustled about until the carriage was out of sight. Faulder,, though so persistent, does not lack a sense of humour, and he tramped on Sunday from his homo at Edmonton up to the City, thereby giving the detectives an excellent game of bare and hounds. The night of the Royal progress was not celebrated by any illuminations in London, but at Btishey, Professor von Herkomer and his friends and pupils, gave a novel display, that was much appreciated by a large crowd. It consisted of an illuminated gallery of twenty portraits of the most noteworthy Kings and Queens of England, from Edward the Confessor ter Edward AMI., exhibited in the open air. The whole was designed by Professor Herhcmier, who painted the portrait of our present King, while that of Queen Victria was executed by Mr M. Flower, after a picture of Herkomer’s. The remainder of the portraits were executed by past and present members of the Herkomer Art Schools at Bushev. Miss Lucy KempWelch’s special skill as a painter of horses was displayed in a portrait of Richard I. on horseback. The only other mounted Monarch was Henry V., painted by Air Wheelwright, whose horses arc also well known to Academy visitors. The other artists included Mr R. C’aton AVooclville. The pictures, each about Bft by 4ft, painted on canvas, in transparent colours, and lit by electric lamps, were grouped along Melbourne Road, opposite the R.A.’s house* The portrait of King Edward VII. stood'alone in th§ Professor’s garden, with that of Queen Victoria opposite, and the remaining eighteen ranged on either side. The intense darkness of th© night helped to produce a splendid effect, and the pictures stood out like stained-glass windows.